The long-awaited Third New York Breeding Bird Atlas officially kicked off at the start of 2020. Last year, for obvious reasons, it was difficult to engage in as much exploration as I would’ve liked. My reduced vehicle access and the various travel restrictions made it difficult for me to venture beyond NYC for much of the breeding season. Even though … Read More
The Prospect Park Progne: a Mega Martin Mystery
As the doldrums of March draw to a close, spring migration begins to heat up a bit more rapidly. The excitement of the May peak is still a ways out, but the rising anticipation in both birds and birders is palpable. This year, April kicked off with a bang of legendary proportions! The morning of the 1st brought clouds and … Read More
Apartment Birding and Fire Escapism
When I first moved into my Astoria apartment in early December, I immediately began keeping a “yard list” of birds seen around my new home. My expectations for the potential of this urbanized neighborhood weren’t particularly high, but I reasoned that watching for birds of note outside my window would be a fun way to pass the time between proper … Read More
Finding a Little Gull in Illinois
Three days ago, March 26th, I had only about six hours to go birding. I talked with my friend Andy Sigler to see what would be possible, and we outlined the possibilities. We could go to the Kankakee River (Kankakee County) for White-winged Scoters, go to Dresden Lock and Dam (Grundy County) for White-winged and possibly a Surf Scoter, hit … Read More
“Snowpril” Birding
I had thought we had seen the last of winter weeks ago, and temperatures in the 50s to near 80 degrees over the last many weeks was the norm. Migration was really starting to crank up in PA with many species of warblers arriving, orioles and grosbeaks showing up and some hummers making an appearance. All the fruit trees in … Read More
Spring Migration Predictions – First Half of April
Finally, it’s April. March was nice, but very few spring migrants returned to PA compared to what’s in store for us birders during April and May. During April, migration really picks up, and we should see most spring migrants back in the state by the end of this month. I went through the eBird bar charts for the PA and … Read More
Presque Isle trip
Late update…I’ve been a bit busy recently with classes and helping teach ornithology. Anyways, I took my first trip ever up to Presque Isle State Park with Nate and Tim to look for waterfowl and the large number of redpolls that have been reported up there. We were pretty excited about birding in the 10 degree Fahrenheit weather but at … Read More